Here, There be a Writer

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Iambic Pentameter and Beyond

I am going to post a sonnet that I wrote in iambic pentameter. While is not that great (compared to Will's work), it a solid attempt, certainly for a first attempt using iambic pentameter.

See, it is very hard. I am writing a blog for each day this week (a challenge to stretch my mind to it's limits). This means I need to have something to write about each day. Well, then I came up with my Sonnet-a-Day for a month project. I feel like this week I could cross over for seven days. That feels like cheating. I need really content! Today is iambic pentameter day (so decreed by me).

Okay, I am rambling! The sonnet written in iambic pentameter. To give me credit, I did sit down and one. I counted the syllables, stressed and unstressed. It might not be perfect, but I feel that I got what The Bard was going for. It was hard. Yes! REALLY hard! Trying to get the right amount of "Iambic Feet" (a stressed and unstressed syllable) and 5 of them in ONE line. Then to make matters worse, rhyming every other lines. 3 quatrains with rhyme and a couplet.

Wow! I feel literate. After all the the poems I have personally written, or written for various classes over the years, (and that's a lot). Trust me, I feel great! It might be a small accomplishment to some, but to write a sonnet, with rhyme, and in iambic pentameter. That's wow! That's AWESOME!

I am normally used to free verse. I just write and go. When I stick to form, I go for Haiku. They are one of my favourite poetic form. They are easy to write, but also, eastern thought and eastern poetry makes me happy. While in college I had to write a villanelle and terzanelle for my "Intro to Creative Writing" with prof. Lord. They had a definite form and rhyme scheme. I really took to them. Wikipedia's definition: villanelle is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets (3 line stanza) followed by a quatrain (4 line stanza) and the first and third lines repeat thorughout the poem. It's a very song-like form. One could put music to some villanelles. Here is my first attempt at a villanelle back in 1997:

Entity: A Villanelle

Here comes the darkness that
engulfs the eyes

in a mass of acrid bile;
it burns alive.

All in
disguise?

Purely by
surprise

among the ancient ruins it
does dive,

the darkness that
engulfs the eyes.

Of the times, it has
tried to die

it never thought to
contrive

that it was all
in disguise.

Never given a
chance to try

there are now
only five

left alive, left of the darkness that
engulfs the eyes.

Why all sudden
lying?

No longer will it
survive,

in the end, it is
a disguise.

It
rises

and it
writhes

the darkness that
engulfs the eyes

in all; it is
a disguise.

Dylan Thomas one of the most famous villanelle out there:

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

The other form that I was introduced to in my creative writing class was as a Terzanelle, also a 19 line poem. This is very similar to the villanelle, but with a terzanelle, the middle line of each stanza is repeated as the last line of the next stanza. Likewise, the first and third line of the first stanza repeat in the final quatrain. The Terzanelle also has a rhyme scheme making it also song-like .

A Moment

Jays chatter wild among
the trees

they spiral slowly
earthward.

I see
three

who leap
skyward

heading to a warm
place.

They spiral slowly
earthward--

their tails,
delicate like lace,

only
blue.

Heading to a warm
place

there are
only a few

feathers that fall
like heather;

tall and
filled of hue.

Cold turns the
weather

bitter; it bites
the wings.

Feathers that fall
like heather

are funny
little things.

Jays chatter wild in
the trees.

The cold, it bites
the wings

and I see
three.

Okay, enough of the old college poetry, you came here to read some sonnets. I now I present my freshly typed sonnet, written in iambic pentameter (first time ever). This sonnet is dedicated to Adichappo, who gave me my first topic in my month of sonnets. It's day two of sonnet month!

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Who I am?

Born in Dunkirk, NY. Grew up and played in Western New York (Fredonia, NY to be specific). Lived in Dallas, TX, now living in Corning, NY and making my way in the writing and theatre communities. I love a good book (or a series of books), terribly cheesy movies, an avid listener of Great Big Sea and Meatloaf, and part-time painter. I am a Whovian, but I loves me some Star Trek or Firefly too. Anything else, all you have to do is ask.